Story Reader / Affection / Bianca: Stigmata / Story
You don't see Bianca beside you when you open your eyes again.
You exit the tent—and see Bianca standing right by the window, with the side of her face bathing in the hazy white light that's coming through.
With her hand placed on the window frame, she seems like a statue forgotten by the world.
It's only when your movement breaks the silence in the air that she finally turns this way to face you.
Good morning, Commandant.
The snowstorm has stopped.
Bianca moves out of the way for you to see through the window.
Clearly layered without so much as a billow of cloud, the skies are reminiscent of watercolor on a canvas.
Pure white, the land reaches well into the distance until it touches the horizon at the very far end.
At this very moment, the boundless white and deep blues seem to be the only two colors left in this world.
It's all sunny out there. Seems like we've only been delayed for a bit.
I made you some breakfast with the portal kitchenware and frozen ingredients, Commandant, but I'm afraid you'll have to eat it in the vehicle.
You look out the window—and see that the polar vehicle that was stuck in the snow is now parked right outside the research station.
I brought it back while you were still sleeping.
It took me a few hours, and it isn't anything overly challenging for a Construct.
And you finally see them—the snowflakes on Bianca's hair, presumably from when she was trying to get the vehicle out of the hole.
...Commandant?
...
Right... I totally forgot to make myself look presentable.
I was going to...
Except I just couldn't bring myself to do it seeing you sound asleep.
And considering what we'll be doing next, you were supposed to have as much rest as possible to recover from everything we did last night.
Constructs are much better suited for occasions like this, Commandant. You should avoid exerting yourself until you're absolutely needed.
We're a team now, remember?
Alright. Let's keep moving, then.
The tent is put away and the polar vehicle is started.
Holding the cup of creamy soup that Bianca made for you, you turn your gaze at the pure white expanse that's this land.
With the snowstorm lifted, you can now finally appreciate the views this land has to offer.
Unlike the Arctic Circle—currently occupied by the ARU—this place is humanless in every sense of the word.
No humans, no conflicts, no viruses, and no war.
Quiet and untarnished. You never thought that Earth—now a planet ruined and torn apart by the war between humanity and the Punishing Virus—still had a place like this.
The white expanse just goes on and on and on.
I have some coffee here, Commandant. It's instant, though.
Holding a vacuum flask, Bianca looks at you out of the corner of her eye with a smile on her face.
Receiving the vacuum flask and opening the lid, you smell the wonderful aroma of coffee right away.
Then, a curious thought crosses your mind.
You aren't sure if it's some trick the white expanse is doing to your mind, but...
For a split second, you thought this odyssey through the snow would last forever.
Be ready, Commandant. We're less than one kilometer away from our destination now.
With Bianca's friendly reminder, you snap back from your daydream.
Finishing the rest of the creamy soup from the cup, you try to calm yourself down and rid yourself of any unnecessary emotions.
You were momentarily lost in the view, but you never forgot what you came here to do.
Seeing the research station in the distance where the expedition was stationed, you ask Bianca to park the vehicle in the shade behind a snow-covered rock.
Roger that.
Getting out of the vehicle, Bianca pulls out the Swordstaff from under the driver's seat.
Without a word, you and Bianca communicate and agree on a strategy with eyes and gestures only. Then, following Bianca, you close in on the research station.
This research station looks about the same as the one you spent the night in last night, but you can tell from the light and running exhaust fans that this place is still in operation.
You and Bianca make it all the way to the entrance without being ambushed.
From right outside the entrance, however, you can hear a conversation coming from the inside.
Now, I just need to start a "revolution" here...
"Revolution"...?
Something doesn't seem right to you, and you were about to tell Bianca about it—when she shakes her eerily glowing Swordstaff and blows away the steel door.
Drop all your weapons now!
With years of experience under her belt as a member of the Purifying Force, Bianca decided to hold down the people in this research station by force, having determined how many of them there were from the conversation.
And all the points will just... Holy sweet mother of God! What in God's name is going on?!
Looking this way, the people inside all seem caught off guard.
With the door blown off, a gust of wind blows in and sweeps up the pile of cards on the table.
With four spade sevens in hand, the expedition member who just shouted looks utterly baffled seeing you and Bianca.
The way they look, however, doesn't seem to fit how they're described in the mission report—"showed signs of 'defecting' or 'missing'."
What... is going on?
At this point, Bianca looks as utterly baffled as all the expedition members looking at her in the eye, causing you to feel even more tense than you were just moments ago.
A-are you from Babylonia?
We're the Purifying Force, and we're here to...
...
The situation is now beyond awkward, and Bianca isn't sure how to handle these scared people who don't carry any weapons.
Taking a step back, she seems to want you to take over.
I think it's best that you take over from here, Commandant.
They all draw a deep breath at the mention of the Purifying Force—they might have been huddled up in here for years now, but they know exactly what the Purifying Force does.
You exchange a look with Bianca and nod at her.
Did you just say they thought we'd defected? What a bunch of nonsense!
We've been stationed here for years already. And can you even imagine how a bunch of research Constructs like us are capable of defection?
But Babylonia did get a very strange communication...
A communication...? Wait...
Do you guys think they're talking about... that...?
The expedition members exchange looks amongst themselves as they speak in hushed voices.
Finally, a captain-present Construct steps out and, in a sincere tone, starts speaking to you.
Apologies, Commandant, but it seems like there was some misunderstanding between us and Babylonia.
And we may have an idea of what might have caused the misunderstanding.
It'd be a bit of a hassle to explain it, and I think having you see it for yourselves would save all of us the hassle.
Would you both like to go with us, then? We'll fill you in on everything once we're there.
What should we do, Commandant?
This is supposed to be the Purifying Force's mission, but Bianca is putting you in charge of the situation here. It's your call now whether or not you want to trust these people.
Seeing their reactions and attitudes, you don't think you'd ever describe these people as "defectors"?
Besides, these Constructs are all of an earlier version and all came without weapons. Granted that the group was twice its current size, Bianca still would have been able to dust them all up in a breeze with her latest specialized frame.
Which is why you think it wouldn't hurt to trust them.
Of course.
Taking care of the door blown off by Bianca, the Captain asks the rest of the expedition to gear up to leave.
Following the expedition, you arrive at the research station's garage—which houses an exploration vehicle big enough to carry everyone.
This time, however, you're the one behind the wheel, while the Captain, who sits in the front passenger seat, sets the destination for you. You've decided to take this as a safety measure against the expedition—so that if and when anything does happen, at least you're in control of the wheel.
Sitting in the middle row are two expedition members. Bianca has taken the very last row, where she'd be able to keep an eye on the expedition.
With the exploration vehicle now heading away from the research station, you find the air inside quieter and heavier still than when you were traveling with just Bianca.
These people seem edgy about your sudden appearance. To them, Bianca probably seems like someone who wouldn't hesitate for a second to slash them the moment she thinks they're trying anything funny.
Judging a book by its cover can be detrimental, and you certainly don't want that to get in the way between you and these people—which is why you've decided to take the initiative to strike up a conversation to clear the air.
Well... to be more precise, we've been here since WGAA's Archaeological Team was formed.
What we do doesn't really have to do with WGAA's objectives, though, despite the fact that we fall under their jurisdiction.
There are no human civilizations here, so we are mainly just trying to investigate Earth's ecological changes and previously unknown species...
An example would be... how we're able to come up with better estimates of Earth's overall climatic changes based on the data we've collected from our long-term observation of Antarctica's climate... See, global warming has been a source of headache for humans since as early as the Golden Age.
Another example would be... Say, if we have a better understanding of the food chain here, we just might be able to come up with a sustainable resource acquisition system that would go a long way to benefit not just Babylonia... but humanity as a whole.
These are all very important on many different levels, and yet... Babylonia focuses almost entirely on trying to get humanity's lost lands on Earth, to the point that they decided to put this expedition under WGAA and not the Science Council.
We understand that our work isn't substantially helpful in terms of fighting off the Punishing Virus, which is why we've learned to play within our limits.
We rarely ever ask to have precision gadgets sent our way, and it's been God-only-knows-how-long since a good number of us last had our maintenance done back in Babylonia.
We're basically just a whole bunch of free-range chicks... See, sometimes I wonder if Babylonia still remembers us. Haha...
I can tell you that Babylonia still remembers all of you here.
This much I can say with certainty.
Bianca cuts the Captain's self-mockery short.
The command center sent both of us here to look into the matter right after receiving your message.
The higher-ups did take the possibility of defection into account, but we weren't sent here to purge anyone without first figuring out what happened. Commandant and I would have helped the expedition however we could, had it turned out that you were caught in the middle of an accident.
Uhm... is that so?
I don't know if you're just being polite, but those words sure sound reassuring.
Say... you wouldn't happen to be the Gray Raven Commandant, would you?
Haha... we recognized you the moment you came in.
Babylonia sends us a battle report on the frontline for our monthly communication... and that's pretty much our only means of staying in touch with the ground.
Your name and pictures are always everywhere on the reports.
As far away as we might be from the Punishing Virus, we still pay a whole lot of attention to humanity's fight against the Punishing Virus.
We all know by heart every single thing that the Task Force has done... Mind you, though, we do spend a lot of time debating if they actually happened...
But I'm damned. Never thought I'd ever get a chance to meet the legend of this generation from Babylonia...
They all get worked up seeing you admit your identity.
And I heard you were part of the Battle of Kowloong, no? How many of you were there? And there wasn't just Babylonia, right? Heard almost all the major forces from the ground were there, no?
And the battle at Pulia Forest Park. Heard it was very bad...
Is our latest specialized frame really able to absorb the Punishing Virus? And the Construct going by the name Karenina that took care of the whole incident with the zero-point engine on the Moon... Where did she even come from?
These people have been out of touch with the world for way too long, so it only makes sense that they would want to find out if all the battles they've heard about are real.
Time passes by as the chitchat goes on, and you've arrived at your destination before you know it.
With not a single road sign or landmark in sight, you have no idea just how far this place is from the research station you came from.
All that you know is that you've passed by countless glaciers and frozen lakes.
And who would have guessed that the seemingly repetitive scenes were but a preface to a world of artificial wonders ahead?
There it is, in a bay with countless floes...
Is a ship.
